Our Team.

John Phillips is an immigration and civil litigation attorney whose practice focuses on representing individuals and families navigating the complexities of the United States immigration system. As the child of an immigrant from Brazil, John brings a personal understanding of the immigrant experience to his practice, combining that perspective with a diverse legal background spanning private practice, government service, nonprofit advocacy, and public-interest work.

John represents clients in a broad range of immigration matters, including asylum, removal defense, family-based immigration, adjustment of status, humanitarian relief, and appeals. He regularly represents individuals before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the immigration courts of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and other federal agencies, developing comprehensive legal strategies, preparing complex applications, and drafting substantive motions and briefs. His immigration practice encompasses both affirmative petitions and contested proceedings, including matters involving detention, deportation, and federal court challenges.

John earned his law degree at Georgetown University Law Center and his undergraduate degree in Political Science at The George Washington University. His education and work across government, private practice, and public-interest organizations inform a broad perspective on the legal challenges individuals and families face.

At RPD, he brings that perspective to a practice grounded in careful preparation, clear explanations, and respect for each client’s circumstances. He believes clients deserve to understand their options and have a meaningful voice in planning their next steps. His commitment to immigrant families reflects both his professional experience and his understanding of how deeply an immigration decision can affect a person’s home, livelihood, and future.

Filipe Dias is a co-founder of RPD Immigration Law. He immigrated to the United States at age three, raised by parents whose perseverance instilled in him a lasting commitment to opportunity.

His business ventures span Washington, D.C., and Maryland, with experience in commercial real estate and the automotive industry. Building and managing these enterprises has given him a practical understanding of entrepreneurship, economic mobility, and the persistence it takes to turn an idea into a lasting business.

At RPD, Filipe brings that entrepreneurial perspective together with his own experience growing up in an immigrant family. He understands how closely a family’s sense of security is connected to its opportunities to work, establish a home, and plan for the future. He now uses that experience to help immigrant families pursue stability, lawful opportunity, and the ability to build their own American Dream.

Jerry Phillips is a co-founder of RPD Immigration Law, bringing a background in legal research, data privacy, and regulatory compliance. He studied Philosophy and Political Science at The George Washington University before earning his J.D. from The Catholic University of America in 2022. Through his law school’s legal clinic, he gained experience in immigration matters, traveling to work with immigrant communities in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.

His professional experience in the technology sector includes work involving federal regulatory investigations and privacy compliance. That background informs his practical approach to managing complex information, building effective systems, and making complicated processes easier to understand.

Jerry believes immigration is a cornerstone of American identity and that a country built by generations of immigrants has a responsibility to treat those who arrive today with dignity and fairness. He helped establish RPD to stand with immigrant communities and help families protect the lives they have built here.